Not much happening in the Pac-12 in week one. Washington at Boise State has some intrigue on Friday with Chris Petersen returning to Boise, Idaho. And there’s that game for college football conference supremacy featuring Arizona State vs. Texas A&M, but we’ve already given our opinion on that match-up.
Here’s two games to watch closely this week in the Pac-12.
Stanford (-12) at Northwestern
Stanford is just consistent. The Cardinal run the ball well and will play solid defense. That hasn’t changed since Jim Harbaugh was head coach and it won’t be any different this year.
But Northwestern should be better this season. The Wildcats return several starters from last year’s 5-7 team. Despite the under .500 record, it wasn’t as if the Wildcats couldn’t compete against some of the better teams in the nation. Northwestern beat Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Penn State last year. However, the youth got to the Wildcats last year and inconsistency was their calling card.
Meanwhile, Stanford was in plenty of close games last season and lost the majority of them en route to a 7-5 regular season record. The Cardinal returns plenty of starters, including a solid, experienced offensive line.
Both teams should be better and Stanford will end up with the better season. However, the Wildcats should keep this game within 10 points. This game screams Stanford tacking on a garbage score to put the margin above 12 points, but don’t worry about the bad beat. This game will be within single digits for the most part, so we’re taking the Wildcats to cover. – Northwestern
Virginia at UCLA (-19.5)
Virginia opened the season last year winning four of its first six games. One of those losses was against UCLA. Despite the loss, the Cavaliers looked good, losing by far less than anticipated.
This year the Cavs face another tall task by traveling across the country to square off against the loaded Bruins. Virginia is suffering from early departures to the NFL draft and a lack of playmakers. That won’t bode well in the opening game against the Bruins.
UCLA is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, despite having to start a true freshman at quarterback. Don’t be scared away from UCLA because of its signal caller. UCLA will roll in the season debut and this one will be lucky to be within four touchdowns – UCLA
Other Pac-12 games with a betting line
Odds provided by Oddsshark
Colorado (-7) at Hawaii
Washington at Boise State (-13)
Stanford (-12) at Northwestern
Virginia at UCLA (-19.5)
Arizona State vs. Texas A&M (-3.5)
Arkansas State at USC (-27.5)
